Any team looking to beat Princeton for the next three years will
need to do what Johns Hopkins did on Friday night: neutralize Tom
Schreiber.

The Blue Jays held Princeton's star sophomore to season-lows of
one goal, two assists and five shots. Schreiber had seven goals,
five assists and 19 shots in his previous two games.

One key to that defensive game plan was the play of Tucker
Durkin, Johns Hopkins' 6-foot-2 junior defenseman. Another key was
finding a way to keep Princeton's offense from setting picks for
Schreiber. Occasionally that meant loading up on Schreiber to make
someone else beat them.

"We tried our best to keep that matchup and weren't as concerned
with the others," said Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala. "We
bumped some poles around and bumped a short stick down and a pole
up. I thought early on we kept them a bit off balance."

Added Durkin: "We wanted to play our picks a little different
than normal. Let some guys get through and other guys switch on
it."

Those looking to copy JHU's strategy may be out of luck. By the
end of the game Princeton had found a way to break through, scoring
the game's last three goals. Jeff Froccaro, Mike Grossman and
Schreiber each scored in the final six minutes.

"I thought they started to load up their midfield in the second
half and kind of forced us to pick and choose who we were gonna put
poles on," Pietramala said.

It certainly seemed like one of those games where another five
minutes of playing time could have swung the game in Princeton's
favor. After being held without a shot in the second quarter,
Princeton outshot Johns Hopkins 29-10 in the second half. If not
for a couple of key saves by goalie Pierce Bassett the outcome
could have been very different. – MARK MACYK

Syracuse Was Dominated on Faceoffs

When Syracuse went into the locker room with a 6-4 halftime lead
over Virginia on Sunday, the Orange looked like it could be headed
for a victory over the top team in the nation despite the beating
it was taking on faceoffs.

Syracuse was only 3-of-12 in faceoffs in the first half, yet
somehow held the lead. But in the second half, that changed
quickly. Cavaliers' specialist Ryan Benincasa was simply dominant,
winning 20-of-28 draws in the game.

In the third quarter, when Virginia went on a four-goal scoring
run, the Cavaliers won 8-of-9 faceoffs. Virginia controlled the
pace of the game, and beat Syracuse by simply keeping the ball out
of the Orange's sticks. When Syracuse did have possession, its
offense went to sleep and failed to take advantage.

The Orange has to get its faceoff situation under control.
Syracuse used three players -- Chris Daddio (4-for-15), Ricky Buhr
(4-for-12) and Drew Jenkins (0-for-1) -- at the 'X,' but all were
beaten time and again. Teams are always going to try to beat the
Orange by slowing the game down, dictating tempo and stripping
Syracuse of its run-and-gun style.

Virginia – a run-and-gun type team in its own right
– did exactly that and it paid off with a 14-10 win.
– CHRIS ISEMAN